1 dead after explosion on Cairo’s Ring Road

A blast in the early hours of Wednesday killed one of two people riding a motorcycle on Cairo’s Ring Road, leaving the other injured.

The Ministry of Interior said in a statement that a security patrol heard the sound of an explosion at dawn. When they reached the site, they found that a 23- year-old who was on the motorbike had died. The other passenger, 27, tried to flee the scene but was apprehended.

The ministry said that it is looking into the circumstances surrounding the explosion. State-run news agency MENA reported that the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), which the two passengers were reportedly carrying.

Two other explosions occurred on Wednesday morning, disrupting railway traffic for more than two hours but leaving no casualties behind. The first was an IED which targeted a railway track connecting the cities of Zagazig, Mansoura, and Cairo. As technicians were repairing the rails, another explosion took place. Repair work was halted until explosives experts secured the site, and all damage to the rail was eventually repaired.

The meeting comes in the framework of the minister’s follow up on police performance and security policies.

The interior minister said the ministry will meet disruptions of public facilities and roads with “utmost firmness and decisiveness”.

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim discussed the security situation in the country with members of the Supreme Council of the Police Authority in a meeting Monday. He addressed the challenges faced by police personnel in their “fierce war with terrorist operatives and extremist organisations”.

Ibrahim ordered taking security measures to protect vital installations across the country and to raise security of police sites and deter any aggressions they may be subjected to.

Security forces, whether police or military, and security checkpoints and sites have been the main targets of militancy since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in July, 2013. Ibrahim himself was the target of an assassination attempt last year.